​Representatives from The University of Gothenburg, Chalmers University of Technology and Kongsberg AS at the signing ceremony of the new agreement for building Sweden's first autonomous underwater vehicle.

Featured Image Credit

​Credit: Leif Eriksson, Chalmers

First Swedish autonomous underwater vehicle for research

On 8 June the agreement with Kongsberg AS for building an autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) was signed. The AUV is an important resource in the national infrastructure MUST (Mobile Underwater System Tools) a joint project between the University of Gothenburg, Stockholm university and Chalmers and the first of its kind in Sweden.

​With the new underwater vehicle it will be possible to make detailed studies of the sea bottom on very large depths and to follow the climate thousands of years back in time.

- The most interesting thing with the AUV for us is that it gives us the possibility to get in under the sea ice in the Arctic Ocean and around Antarctica to measure the thickness of the ice. Says Leif Eriksson from Space, Earth and Environment, Chalmers’ representative in the steering committee for MUST.

To make this kind of measurements has so far been very difficult. The results from the new underwater vehicle will be compared with the measurement results that Leif and his colleagues in the Division of Microwave and Optical Remote Sensing have from their satellite measurements of the sea ice. With this comparison they hope to be able to enhance the methods for estimation of the thickness of the sea ice and decrease the uncertainty about the total sea ice volume, how it is distributed geographically and how it varies over time.

- It will be very exciting to see what information these measurements give. We look forward to having the new AUV built and up and running, says Leif.

MUST is financed by grants from Knut and Allice Wallenberg Foundations and managed by a steering committee with representation from the University of Gothenburg, Stockholm University and Chalmers University of Technology.n from the University of Gothenburg, Stockholm University and Chalmers University of Technology.